LISD’s Garza Gets A Raise

You can't go a day lately without hearing about the budget woes for the State of Texas. People are complaining all over the place about the current draft the the budget. The loudest critics have been those in the education field. LISD Superintendent, Karen Garza, has been out in the media warning that LISD will lose money and possibly have to shutdown schools.

So it makes sense that with the looming crisis, she gets a raise... right? (more after the jump)The LISD School Board approved a contract extension and raise for Garza during their last meeting. Her new contract takes her through 2014 with a two and a half percent pay raise. Her base salary will now come out to more than $232,000 a year.

As I said on the show this morning, I'm not saying she deserves a raise and I'm not saying she doesn't deserve a raise. I just think this is really bad PR and really bad timing.

Public sentiment is not on LISD's side right now. People in Lubbock do not trust those in charge and think those at LISD are spending too much money. People have been upset since LISD purchased an automotive shop so they could tear it down and make the area look more appealing for those having to go down to the Administration Building.

Then came the dress code fight. LISD relaxed the dress code and many parents we upset about it. The kids were happy, but parents not so much. Has it caused issues at the schools? Well, that kind of depends who you talk to.

Then came the bond election that only passed by 51%. Getting only 51% should have thrown up warning flags for those higher ups, but obviously it did not.

We don't even know yet what the test scores will look like, but many people don't think we will see much improvement this year.

Now, comes the announcement of a raise for the Superintendent. I agree with what a listener said today. You don't give out a raise until the end of the year and not until we see how the schools did on test scores.

I also think the timing is horrible. As I said earlier, everyday we see stories about education being gutted by the state. We have seen stories about possibly closing down schools and laying off teachers. So why do a pay raise now?

Sorry LISD, this is another PR blunder and just another reason why people don't trust you.